Personal investing in the Philippines: Investing in an index fund

Update June 2017: It’s been four years since I started investing, and my investing outlook has changed quite a bit over the years. Click here to read a recap of my investing journey, where I share some insights based on personal experience.

There is certainly a dearth of low-cost, no-load mutual funds in the country, unlike in the US. The only no-load Philippine mutual funds that I know of are the ALFM Mutual Funds, which are managed by BPI Asset Management, a subsidiary of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

PSIF’s annual fee of 1.5% pales in comparison, but the lack of sales load makes it far more attractive than the only other stock index fund in the country, the Philequity PSE Index Fund (PPSE), whose sales load are as high as 5% (whaaat?).

Like investing in BPI UITFs, which I detailed in my previous post, it’s quite easy to invest in ALFM Mutual Funds if you already have a BPI deposit account enrolled in their online banking facility, BPI Express Online. Just follow the same procedure, but go to Investments > Apply Now > Mutual Funds instead. PSIF is restricted only to “aggressive” investors, so choose “D” as much as possible on their risk profile questionnaire.

Now that I’ve invested in an index fund, I look forward to see how it will fare this year vis–à–vis Philequity Fund (PEFI), my managed equity fund. Also, here’s hoping Philippine mutual fund companies will follow the lead of ALFM Mutual Funds and waive their dratted sales loads.